whatever that may be; nor
to the sadness of spirit of one who _wishes_ "the glad tidings" to be
true, but cannot arrive at a conclusion so desirable for his own good
and peace, as well as for that of society; nor to the effects of a
peculiar constitutional temperament which has a tendency first to
doubt and invest everything with darkness, and then endeavours in
vain to dispel what itself creates. But when we speak of infidels and
unbelievers, we speak of _ungodly_ men who dislike the truth of God,
and who manifest this dislike in their triumph when any supposed error
in the life or the doctrines of Jesus Christ is detected, or any evil
(for which He is held responsible) is exposed in His followers, and
who keep an ample mantle of charity for those who disbelieve, but none
for those who believe in Jesus Christ as their only Saviour.

This opposition to the government of God through Jesus Christ has not
been a temporary outburst by a few only. The kingdom of Satan has
existed here since the fall of man, side by side with Christ's
kingdom, and opposed it in every age and clime. The kingdom of
holiness and peace has never entered the soul of any living man,
without first meeting, and then overcoming, enmity and ill-will by the
power of truth and love. It has never entered a single country on the
surface of the globe without terrible combats being fought again and
again, in which the best soldiers and noblest subjects of the Great
King have "had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover,
of bonds and imprisonments." "We will not have the Lord to reign over
us!" has been everywhere the awful battle-cry; and the conflict rages
now as fiercely as it did in any age of the world! Nor, moreover,
has this opposition been given by uncivilised savages; but men of
knowledge and of genius have dedicated all the powers of their mind to
the dread task of ridding the world of the Redeemer's sceptre. What
they have thought, they have spoken; what they have spoken, they have
written and recorded in books, that their influence might extend
beyond their own immediate circle and their own time, and that other
nations and other generations might know what _they_ thought of the
Saviour,--how sincerely they themselves despised and rejected Him, and
desired all others to do the same. What is every infidel publication
but an accusation against Jesus Christ, a protest against His
government, and an attempt to rouse the world to join in